The Outdoors Helped Me Through My Darkest Times

Hinzugefügt: 2026-05-07

[00:00:00]Oh, the hell he's on.

[00:00:02]>> What's happening people?

[00:00:04]Welcome to the channel, Weddings and Wellness. Know what you're thinking.

[00:00:08]Who's this boy with a jet black beard?

[00:00:19]Well, I'll tell you a little story about that. I had too many gray ears coming through. So, I had it dyed. It said dark brown black on the box, but it's come out jet black. So, here we are. I've just finished work now. We're down by the Cornto Hills. So, we're going to go for a little drive. There's a beach down the road here with some woods.

[00:00:40]We're going to go for a little walk and explain everything on the channel.

[00:00:45]And we're off. We've got a few hours ahead. Let's get cracking.

[00:00:50]The hell is on.

[00:00:52]All right, let's see what we need. Not a lot, guys. We're only going for a walk.

[00:00:57]knife handle. Don't need the spade. Take the parts though. Get the chopper.

[00:01:09]That's pretty much all we need today.

[00:01:12]Traffic guys just come up and nearly run us over here.

[00:01:17]Let's go.

[00:01:24]I love coming on these hikes, guys. Good for the sole, good for the head, gives you a clear mind, hooves, and then the toes.

[00:01:37]These are actually deer tracks. Deer has been using this track coming through here. Just have to be careful cuz we run into one. They are out the rut now, so the stag. So, but they're still dangerous.

[00:01:56]If you look right down there, there's some deer. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a little friend in the leaves.

[00:02:07]Slowing.

[00:02:09]He's gone.

[00:02:11]>> Just let that little friend go and we're off again.

[00:02:15]I think what we'll do now, guys, is find a little spot and make a bit of supper.

[00:02:31]Now, there's no round fires up here, guys, this time of year especially. So, we're going to set this up to have a bit of supper.

[00:02:51]Just want to say thank you guys for uh all the social media posts and all the shears.

[00:03:07]That was delicious. Let's get back to the track.

[00:03:12]We'll keep our eyes peeled for a spot to stop and I'll tell you more about the channel.

[00:03:18]Someone's been making some sort of shelter here, guys. That would have been the frame.

[00:03:24]They have had a tarp over here. And this was where they beded down.

[00:03:30]What a bad place to camp, guys. We might do a video up here one of the days, nights ourselves.

[00:03:37]We won't disturb this place. He might be coming back. He's got his wood there.

[00:03:44]Good on him. So guys, let's talk about the channel and why we're doing it and who am I?

[00:03:52]Well, I was born in a county called Pemshire.

[00:03:57]Now, it's great place, lovely place.

[00:04:00]It's one of the national parks of the UK, the Pemure Coast. Great upbringing, brilliant play sport, really good group of friends. But Pemrickshire has got a dark history substance abuse which I never dodged. It hit me like a ton of bricks. Now from the age of 16 till about well for 3 years ago till I was 32.

[00:04:28]It hit me and hit me big.

[00:04:31]It was starting off little bit here and there. party maybe a little bit once a week and it got more more more until you're locking yourself in your room on your own after the party ends.

[00:04:56]Third day, fourth day, no sleep, hearing little voices, seeing them shadows, mental health going absolutely crazy.

[00:05:08]You don't know what to do with yourself.

[00:05:10]I used to write letters to the actual substance I was taking.

[00:05:17]I hate you. I love you at the same time.

[00:05:24]Why are you doing this to me? This sort of thing.

[00:05:29]Come around then your day or two later, realize what you've done. Throw it away.

[00:05:34]Finally get to sleep.

[00:05:38]Then you start feeling a little bit better. A little bit better. And you forget everything that you've just done, and you do it all again.

[00:05:45]This was my cycle for the best part.

[00:05:50]17 till about well till 32 3 years ago.

[00:05:54]The countless jobs you mess up, you throw away. You throw your livelihood away. You forget everything. All your focus is on that one thing.

[00:06:06]Those were the dark days, the very dark days.

[00:06:10]But there is light at the end of the tunnel.

[00:06:14]If it wasn't for my wife, I wouldn't be here today. Not a chance would I be here today if it wasn't for my wife.

[00:06:21]To all you men out there with girlfriends and wives, you tell them you love them every day.

[00:06:27]Behind every good man is an even better woman.

[00:06:31]If it wasn't for her helping me, she got me through it. And now here I am today, clean, sober, enjoying life.

[00:06:45]One of the reasons for the channel is I struggled with my mental health for years.

[00:06:53]My sister struggled with it for years.

[00:06:55]Sadly, she's no longer with us now.

[00:07:00]So, what I'm doing on the channel, I'm showing my boys the other side of them streets. We're out fishing. We're out hiking. We're out down the beach. We're foraging. We're cooking outside. We're camping. They just haven't shown them what nature is. Now, if there's anyone in the Pure area or the Somerset area, we'll be going further a field, but these are the two places I'm based at the minute that is struggling with their mental health and they want to get outdoors, they can come with me hiking, fishing.

[00:07:41]We do a bit of outdoor cooking, anything you want to do just to get you out in the in the outdoors.

[00:07:47]It's not going to cure you full time, but for them few hours you'll be out, you'll feel a lot better. That's why I'm out here is every chance I get, I'm out in the woods. It's brilliant for your mental health. Brilliant.

[00:08:03]You just come out here. You just sit down like this and just listen. Just listen to the birds.

[00:08:14]It beats them kitchens any day.

[00:08:18]Now, let's find a beach. But first, we need some firewood.

[00:08:44]All this dry woods here. Perfect for fire. Now, where we actually are in the Quantok Hills, you're not allowed ground fires at the minute, but there is a beach down the road that we can go and have a little fire on.

[00:09:04]We're just collecting a little bit of wood just in case there's one down there.

[00:09:16]Into the bags and away we go.

[00:09:31]3 years now. I'm 35 years old now.

[00:09:35]I've been sober since I was 32.

[00:09:38]Now, I'm not going to say it's easy cuz it's the hardest thing I ever done. But if you've got children at home and you're struggling and you can't get clean for your children, then you need to have a think.

[00:09:55]You'll never do anything harder.

[00:09:57]But believe me, it's worth it if you do.

[00:10:03]I can't give my wife enough praise. It's the best thing to ever happen to me.

[00:10:08]I'm the luckiest man in the world.

[00:10:16]Oh, look guys. There. It's one up here.

[00:10:18]Right up in the corner. Right on my finger line there.

[00:10:23]Oh, there's a head of them, guys.

[00:10:24]There's loads here.

[00:10:27]And it's full of deer. Let's see if we can get closer. Let's go, guys.

[00:10:46]There they are. There.

[00:10:49]It's a big stag right up there.

[00:10:56]Look at them just grazing on the grass.

[00:10:59]Wow.

[00:11:05]unstable cliffs, these real fallen rocks.

[00:11:10]I should have taken that sign a little more seriously, as you'll see shortly.

[00:11:14]>> We'll do a bit of fishing, bit of cooking, you want to clear your mind. Anyone suffering mental health, get in contact and we'll plan a day.

[00:11:34]Oh wow, look at this guys.

[00:12:02]While I collected a pile of pebbles, I noticed gravel falling around me, but out of nowhere.

[00:12:14]Bloody hell. They should have read that lesson that time we already won, guys.

[00:12:18]Let's just come straight down there.

[00:12:20]We'll move over here.

[00:12:22]A little relocation and time for a fire.

[00:12:41]In the next couple of videos, guys, I introduce you to my family, my wife, Emma. So, Jimmy Jimmy has autism.

[00:12:52]and sometimes he finds it hard to interact with other people and groups.

[00:12:56]So, while we're down the beach, we are going to do some days where we do an autism group hike, an autism group uh beach day where we do a bit of rock pooling, bit of fishing, bit of cooking.

[00:13:06]So, any moms and dads out there with children with autism who want to get involved, get in contact with us and we'll we'll arrange a day. Um it's not just for people with autism either, guys. This is just they're just little off days, oneoff days. We'll do events.

[00:13:21]We're open to everyone. So, you can all come down and just have a day on the beach with us and yeah, get out, see what we do. If you are still watching and you've got this far and you want to see more uh videos of us, guys, give us a like, follow, and a share on all our social media, which is at Wellies and Wellness, and subscribe to the YouTube channel, guys, Wies and Wellness. It goes a long way of us making more videos.

[00:13:51]Thanks so much.